A personal blog about quilting, sewing and life as a mother. Lots of free tutorials including beginning quilting tutorials, binding tutorials, and other sewing projects like bags, quilt blocks and nursing covers.

Half Square Spectrum Quilt

This quilt has been in the works for a L O N G time. One of those quilts that I wanted to work on (because I was making it purely for me), but always got pushed to the bottom of the priority list. I cut out all the fabrics last fall and played with the layout for these half-square triangle blocks, but that’s as far as I got. The blocks resurfaced this summer and I started sewing them into rows, but it kept getting pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. Then in a one-night sewing binge at the Sewing Summit, I cranked this baby out – well, the rows anyway. Then some time to add some borders, get it quilted and she’s finally done!

Why do I bore you with all those details? Well, mainly because I do not want anyone under the misconception that I sit and whip out a quit in a weekend or two. The majority of the quilts that I make are L O N G, drawn-out works in progress. Just because they magically appear finished for a blog post doesn’t mean they are whipped up over night.

This quilt was all about playing with fabric and color. It started out with a couple of Freebird charm packs. (One of my all time favorite fabric collections. I used it in the big circles quilt too.) I didn’t have enough for a whole quilt, but the colors and prints played together so nicely with the abundance of American Jane fabrics in my stash as well as a few random Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, etc. prints. Also I have a thing for color spectrums. (I think it comes from visiting Purl Soho – the whole store is so pretty with everything organized by colors.) I tried a layout mixing the colors but everything looked muddy – putting the colors together made them sing. (Not literally, but you know what I mean.) I love it.

What I’m not sure about is the triangles ‘bleeding’ into the borders. It was nice in theory, but the jury is still out about the final result.

The pieced back was born more of necessity – I didn’t have quite enough of this yardage for the back, but it’s always fun to come up with a solution right? And applying my goal of pulling from the stash only this is what came from it. The red floral is probably my favorite print from that good ol’ Freebird collection.

Binding again from the stash. The fabric is a stripe from a Christmas collection that I got on clearance one year. Not sure how I feel about this one either. The colors are perfect, but the stripe feels wide. I think it will grow on me. Maybe the floating triangles in the borders too. If not, then I can always cut off the borders and re-bind right?

It’s so satisfying to complete a quilt for myself that I love. Fun to look at every fabric and color and feel warm and fuzzy about each one. (I know, I’m a dork.) I cut all the HST (half-square triangles) with my Accuquilt Go cutter. Cut all those triangles SO fast.

After I posted the Freebird circles quilt I had a lot of people contact me about where they could find some of those fabrics. They are scarce these days because the collection came out a couple of years ago. But luckily I heard from Jennifer who runs an online fabric shop, Dragonfly Fabrics in Canada. She still has many Freebird prints available in her shop – and they are even on sale. So if you’re one of those folks on the hunt, you’re in luck!

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Comments

Oh, how gorgeous! Amy, it&#39;s just perfect! I <i>love</i> the triangles bleeding into the border. And the colors are just so beautiful.<br /><br />I also appreciate your details on how long it took to make. I don&#39;t crank quilts out in a week either, that&#39;s for sure. : )

LOVE!! The color spectrum is so pretty to look at. I will be pinning this to my Quilt Love board and hopefullake something similar for myself one day 😉 Smiles~Beth<br />PS~It&#39;s so nice to hear that I am not the only one that doesn&#39;t make a week!

Looks wonderful! I like the &quot;extra&quot; triangles in the borders, but I can see how you would be unsure about them. I often feel like that if I take a kooky little risk in a quilt that I&#39;m not 100% sure of.<br /><br />The other thing I sometimes struggle to remember is that not every quilt I make is going to be an absolute favorite. So if I&#39;ve made a few in a row that I REALLY love,

This is a beautiful quilt. I really like that the triangles bleed into the borders. That is a very fun detail. It takes me forever to get a quilt done most of the time. It&#39;s nice to know that it&#39;s not just me…

Your quilt is so pretty. I like the triangles in the border, it gives the quilt some movement. I am a very slow quilter. I might start something today and not finish it for a year or two unless I am making it as a present. If it is a present I make a quilt very fast because I wait until the last minute.

I LOVE the triangles in the borders Amy, it is unexpected and fun! The whole package is just perfect. But I know what you mean, sometimes after looking at it so long you start to second guess every part!<br /><br />I just loved seeing this top come together at Sewing Summit, and your HUGE smile in the wee hours of the night as you held up the finished product for us all to admire Long

This blog was very nice. I love the quilt and I aspire to make one too. I like the white. I think HST&#39;s are my favorite. Thank you for letting me know that I don&#39;t have to feel bad taking time to make quilts. Many blogs I follow make quilts every week. I guess I&#39;m just slow. Thank you.

What a beautiful quilt! I love the binding – it really does bring the quilt together…and the pieced backing is one of my favorites I&#39;ve seen. Such a simple but beautiful design. Congrats on finishing it!

I know EXACTLY how you feel about your fabrics, I feel the same about mine every time I open my cupboard doors. In fact, there are some fabrics I love sooo much, that I&#39;m waiting for that &#39;special&#39; project before I cut in to them!

It is so lovely and well done. I do understand how long it can take to complete a quilt. My first few took forever. One of them several years. I have only recently started sewing more because I am retired. So, good on you girl! I love these fabrics too!

Oh, wow, Amy, this is so gorgeous!!! I really do love how you added the triangles in the border, I think that&#39;s a really cool, unique touch. And the binding is awesome too, I really do think it will grow on you

i love spectrum quilts. i&#39;ve had the color wheel bundle from purl soho on my wishlist for a few years. actually, i have to say that the first thing that drew me to this quilt were the floating triangles. it makes it a little less perfectly organized, which is cool. i love freebird, too. i have a couple charm packs that i&#39;ve been hoarding. this might be a good place for them. beautiful

This is beautiful! Is this the one you took to piece at the Summit? I love the border. Don&#39;t change it!! I might make one of these for my own. Love the color spectrum and those fabrics!!! And…if you ever want to get rid of them you know where to donate. 😉

Well, I absolutely love the floaters. They freshen up an already-beautiful design. Thanks, too, for reminding us that quilts are usually a loooong time in the making. When you follow a lot of blogs like I do, you see a lot of finishes and it&#39;s easy to forget that they take time.

Beautiful! I LOVE the &quot;spectrum&quot; look – you&#39;re right: the colors sing! Delightful! And, so satisfying to finish up a project for yourself after a long time. (I blogged about one like that today, too.) Now I want to make a spectrum quilt, too. Thanks for the beautiful inspiration!

This quilt is absolutely beautiful. And here&#39;s to you for making something for yourself. I am new to sewing and quilting and my list of to-do keeps growing thanks to my 8yr old (with none for me on the list). Love the floating triangles and the binding. It is perfect just the way it is!

Trackbacks

[…] die) and made quick work of a stack of half-square triangle blocks (same size I used for my Spectrum quilt). I got the whole thing cut out last night while watching So You Think You Can Dance with my […]

[…] are paired with white and then all lined up in the same direction, you can read more about her Half Square Spectrum Quilt at her blog, Diary of a Quilter. Are you starting to get the idea of how easy it is to change the […]

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